Simple Sweet and Salty Chocolate Bark

Sweet and salty chocolate bark is perfect for gifting during the holidays, making with kids on a lazy Sunday, or for snacking on when you don’t know if you want salty or sweet. Pretzels, M&M’s and salted peanuts come together with a bag of chocolate chips to form an easy yet, satisfying snack.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely in the sweet treat category. Some of my closest friends are in the salty category and I was thinking of them as I was making this recipe. Sometimes you just want it all. And this chocolate bark recipe certainly delivers.

Since this recipe is endlessly adaptable, a chocolate chip base can go in lots of different directions, I’m really going to try to stick to salty and sweet ideas today. I’ve got some other twists on this chocolate bark coming up over the next few months, so stay tuned for those.

Or better yet, join my email list and never miss a recipe again 🙂

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What mix-ins work well in this chocolate bark?

I think that a mix of sweet and salty work best. In this recipe I’m suggesting pretzel sticks, M&M’s and salted nuts, but any of the following would work as well. You’ll just want to make sure you keep the balance of salty and sweet in check.

super crunchy potato chips

snickers bars – chopped them up well

sea salt caramels – I love these from Sanders (it must be the Michigander in me). You can either buy them online or get them at Costco

Can I make this allergy friendly?

Absolutely! You would start by using allergy friendly chocolate chips (I have found this brand at Target and this brand at our regular grocery store). Then customize the toppings based on your dietary needs. Gluten free pretzels and nut free or dairy free candy all work as easy substitutes.

Since this chocolate bark is so easy to put together you, could make it a DIY station at a holiday party, birthday party, or family get together. Put out allergy friendly toppings, as well as any other salty and sweet toppings you like, then let people customize their piece of bark. Use separate baking sheets to prevent cross contamination if necessary.

How do you make sweet and salty chocolate bark?

Making chocolate bark is as easy as chopping up your mix-ins and melting your chocolate chips in the oven for a few minutes. Then let you creativity take center stage.

You’ll want to prep your toppings and chop your mix-ins before you put the chocolate chips in to melt.

To make the bark, spread the bag of chocolate chips (I used these from Ghiradelli) out in one layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. You’ll want the chips close-ish together so that when they melt they end up touching either other.

Put the baking pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes, you just want the chips to melt enough that you can spread the melted chocolate easily. Once melty, take out of the oven and with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula, gently spread the chocolate into one even layer. This becomes the base of your bark.

Then, while the chocolate is still melty, spread your toppings over the chocolate, pressing down only enough that things stick, not so that they are submerged.

Let the chocolate cool. If you want to speed this up, you can either put it in the fridge, or outside (depending on your weather). If you have time, it will harden at room temp (assuming your house is in the 70-72 degree range).

Once hardened, break into pieces and enjoy, package for gifting, or put in an airtight container for storage.

Tips and Tricks:

This is a great recipe to make with kids. Once the chocolate is melted and spread thinly, you can let them add the toppings however they want. Once it’s cooled, little hands do a great job breaking the bark up into random pieces as well.

Chocolate bark ships really well, just pack it up tightly in an airtight container and watch the smiles you get back over FaceTime when your family or friends get this treat!

Sweet and salty chocolate bark makes a great teacher gift, too. Package it up an cellophane bag, attach a little note and gift away.

Ingredients

Instructions

On a parchment lined baking sheet, spread out the entire bag of chocolate chips so that they are in one even layer.

put the baking tray in the oven and turn it on (temp doesn't matter).

in 3-5 minutes check and see if the chocolate chips are all melted, if not, leave them in another minute or two, being careful they don't burn

once the chips are all melted, use a knife or offset spatula to spread the melted chips into one even layer of smooth chocolate

layer the toppings on the melted chocolate in any order you would like

let cool at room temp or in fridge until the chocolate has resolidified

once solid, break into uneven chunks and enjoy!

Notes

you can use any mix-ins/toppings you like in this recipe. use about 1/2 cup of up to 3 different ingredients. the amounts for the toppings are all suggestions. you can always add more or less to make this sweet and salty bark perfect for you!

Want to make these now? Are you missing some ingredients? Amazon Now can get them to you in a few hours, Instacart can get them to you today. Or add them to your Peapod grocery list and don’t be stuck without them again!

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I’m Marni, and I try to keep things as simple as my favorite gray t-shirt. Let me help you do the same! Simple dinners, easy desserts, homemade food for little ones with a couple of simple tips and tricks thrown in. It’s all here for you. I hope you learn to enjoy the simple life as much as I do. Want to learn more? Click here.